Pages

27 June 2016

Well, we have just had the Winter Solstice here, so that explains the end of June. Now the sunset will get latter and latter again, rather than occurring at 4.45 pm! As part of the celebrations of the Dark Mo Fo Festival in Hobart, we had a mid-winter Solstice early morning nude swim - noooooo, I didn't enter - but nearly 700 hardy souls did swim in the Derwent for this event. Temp was about 4 degrees but apparently the water was warmer than the morning air! Still not tempted to enter...............

As you can see above we have had some lovely cold, frosty blue days but we have had a few wet and foggy ones too, and my usual photographer - who is much younger than me and much fitter as well - went walking on the Mountain above the city last week and took this shot!

20 June 2016

Another week of winter here - cold and sometimes damp, and then along comes a day like today, all blue skies and sunshine and you really don't mind the cold..........my young friend Greg Faull (the photographer) has been out and about again with his camera, and yesterday he visited a place where I spent many childhood hours - mostly at school. I grew up in a small hamlet near here and our house overlooked this general area. I went to school here before going to Hobart to High School and boarding away from home for the week. The town is called Dunalley. It was involved in some very disastrous fires two years ago and the school was burned down along with many of the homes. This old jetty survived. This photo is looking east towards South America - you can see it .....just over those clouds there....really; between here and South America there is ocean......lots and lots of ocean.

13 June 2016

Living is a beautiful, green island with a temperate climate has a downside when climate change is mixed into the weather patterns. On this island state of ours we always talk about the weather - some say a legacy from the English settlers who arrived here in the early 1800's; some say because of our island attitudes - whatever, we always discuss the weather.

Last week we got a lot to talk about - a nasty easterly storm that swept down the coast of the mainland (mostly NSW) and then slammed into the northern corner of Tasmania, spilling across to the north west before petering out against a low coming across the Great Australian Blight from the west. This storm had nasty 120 plus kilometre winds, large swells and tides and waves and lots of rain - lots and lots of rain in a very short period of time. This photo shows the result.

The rivers systems could not cope with the runoff and broke their banks, swirling along and flooding areas not flooded for over 100 years, if then. They met the tides and swells and in some places the farmers reported they ran backwards as a result before churning back out to the sea. Herds of milk cows and beef cattle were swept away and consequently drowned with them, and sheep too. Beaches were eroded and in NSW homes damaged from the sea. In Tassie - huge swells on the East Coast for the surfer boys were greeted with elation - and some were lucky to survive the occasion. However, three elderly people lost their lives in the floods, and many more people were rescued from rooftops of cars and houses by helicopters and other means. Many people drove through flood waters and got swept away. One died that way. Many had their home inundated and their businesses too. Carpets will sell well in the next few months, as will paint, and tradesmen will be in short supply.

I live in the south - apart from some much needed rain we didn't have many problems. Dark Mo Fo has started and life is good, albeit a bit cold. I think myself very lucky.

Tasman Bridge over Derwent River - lit up for Dark Mo Fo - photo by me.

06 June 2016

Hello Peeps

Another new moth and another new challenge - great entries in our last one and remember, next week will be the winner's announcement! Meanwhile, another great photo for you - we have has some cold weather here lately (it is winter after all) and while we have had some lovely frosty blue days, we have had a few cold, grey days too......

Five Mile Beach and fog - by Greg Faull

#58: Pocket Books/Letters or Gift Card Holders

TWIST include a crown

Yep, this is a challenge to do something different -

not just a card;

not just a box;

not just a tag;

not just an album;

not just a scrap page

So, what do we want?

Basically anything that has a pocket into which you can put photos, tags, images, presents, gift cards.......

What are Pocket Letters and Pocket Letter Pals™?Basically it's a new way to write letters to penpals for a one time-swap or permanently. You decorate all the pockets of a trading card sleeveor similar,and send the whole page to someone who wants to swap with you. You can fill the pockets with anything you like (stickers, tea bags, a note, washi tape samples, pictures, etc.) Make sure to include a short letter or note and tuck it in one of the pockets. It's the perfect way to collect letters from penpals around the world and a convenient way to store them. They fit perfectly in a binder!

A book with pockets! Again, go to the internet and check out the YouTube video's on making pocket books or check out Pinterest where there are many different ones made. Decorate them to your hearts content as long as you don't use stamps!Gift Card Holders

These can be pockets in a bag, or in a box or on a tag or purpose built!